Device to directly monitor intra ocular pressure by a person based on pattern and colour changes

ABSTRACT

A Device which enables a person to see for himself changes in Intra Ocular Pressure when he looks at his eye in the Mirror, in the routine course of everyday, as every one likes to see his Own face and eyes in the Mirror everyday. The device being Tiny and inserted surgically with minimum incision between Iris and Cornea, enables early indication of IOP in people with high risk of Glaucoma due to high blood pressure and genetic reasons and old age, the early indication enabling timely treatment before retinal damage. The device works on pattern changes due to pressure change which is compared with fixed background pattern and changes in spacing between lines of Diffraction grating and Hologram leading to colour changes due to interference effect of light. Mirror with an area of concave surface and Magnifying device along with comparison Chart enables proper monitoring of drug efficacy.

CLAIMS OF PRIORITY

This patent application claims priority from the Provisional PatentApplication No221/CHE/2009 titled . . . Device to indicate pressure ineye due to glaucoma by means of Optical changes filed on 30 Jan. 2009.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

This disclosure relates generally to technical field of Ophthalmology inthe early detection and monitoring of Intra Ocular Pressure, which couldlead to Glaucoma in people who have a high risk of getting Glaucoma suchas diabetics, people above 50 years with high blood pressure. Themonitoring enables timely treatment by Ophthalmologists there byreducing retinal damage.

SUMMARY Background of Invention

Glaucoma is a silent enemy to mankind, which stealthily damages theretina with out giving indications to the person. So the purpose of thisinvention is to see that the silent damage is detected as far aspossible well ahead of the damage, specially in people who are at highrisk getting their retina damaged by increased Intra Ocular Pressurelike people with high blood pressure and genetic history of Glaucoma.The presently available methods for measuring Intra Ocular Pressure suchas Tonometry based on applanation both contact and non contact types,requires the person to go to a Ophthalmologist for check up which theperson will usually do after a good portion of retina is alreadyirreversible damaged. Devices with implantable pressure sensors based onelectrical resistance measurement have cumbersome interface and display.

The present device allows a person in the high risk group to monitorIntra Ocular Pressure by himself or herself, since everybody willinvariably look at his or her own face and eyes every clay in the Mirrorand can notice changes in pattern and colour of the implanted devisewhich is a tiny strip and seek timely expert help from Ophthalmologists.The device further helps in monitoring the efficacy of the drugs used intreatment to lower Intra ocular pressure and allows necessary changes indrugs and its dosage so that Intra Ocular Pressure is brought toacceptable level.

The device makes use of the property of elastomers to change in shapedue to pressure change leading to change in patterns present on theirsurface. This change in pressure can be observed by the person himselfor herself as change in colour and change in pattern indicating theincrease in pressure thereby prompting timely action by contacting theexpert ophthalmologists to help in reducing the pressure, therebypreventing damage of retina due to increased Intra Ocular Pressure in alarge percentage of people who's retina get damaged mainly due toincrease in Intra Ocular Pressure.

SCOPE OF INVENTION

The device will have served its purpose by preventing a large portion ofpeople who have the risk of getting Glaucoma due to increased IntraOcular Pressure, getting timely treatment and better monitoring andavoid loss of vision. A vision saved is worth the effort especially whenregular monitoring is not undertaken. The loss of vision to the personwho has lost vision is so very bad that science and Technology shouldtry to save as many as possible.

The device, systems, and methods disclosed herein may be implemented inany means for achieving various aspects. Other features will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description thatfollows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitationin the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like referencesindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is Position of the devise in the eye as seen from Front in oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 is Position of the device in the Eye shown between the his andCornea in one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is magnified cross section view of the device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 is Magnified front view of the device shows regions of differentpatterns according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is Front view of the Mirror with a region of concave surface andcomparison chart of Patterns according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is schematic of Magnifier arrangement showing Objective lens,mirrors and eyepiece, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is schematic of Magnifier arrangement showing objective lens,right angled prisms and Eyepiece, according to one embodiment.

Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A device, system and method to monitor Intra Ocular Pressure by theperson himself or herself everyday by looking at the device in a mirrorand through magnifier. Although the present embodiments have beendescribed with reference to specific example embodiments, it will beevident that various modifications and changes may be made to theseembodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of thevarious embodiments.

FIG. 1 indicates the position of the device in the Eye as seen fromfront. The device 102 is placed behind the Cornea and in front of theIris, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 indicates the position of the device inside the eye. The device102 is between the Iris and the Cornea, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is the Magnified cross section view of the device. In the exampleembodiment the Rigid Base 202 is made of plastic material. Thebackground fixed pattern is present on the rigid base 202. A magneticstrip 210 is embedded in the Rigid base 202. To the rigid base 202 isattached Elastomer layer 206 which stretches due to pressure changes.The Elastomer layer 206 has the patterns which change. Between Rigidbase 202 and Elastomer layer 206 is a Gel layer 204 which is used toenhance sensitivity of the device to pressure. The entire device issurrounded by a transparent bio compatible polymer layer 208 which hasfolds at the back shown as 212 to give flexibility so that the elastomerlayer 206 can stretch in response to pressure changes. The elastomerlayer 206 is positioned initially taking base line pressure agreed uponby expert Ophthalmologists, according to one embodiment

FIG. 4 is a Magnified Front view of the device in the exampleembodiment. The pattern 214 on the Elastomer layer 206 is a diffractiongrating with lines of suitable spacing, the Pattern 216 on the Elastomerlayer 206 is a diffraction grating with a different spacing whichchanges colour for a higher pressure level than the pattern 214. Thepattern 218 on the Elastomer 206 is a Hologram that changes colourdepending on amount of stretching of elastomer layer 206. The Pattern220 is the variable pattern on the Elastomer 206 while Pattern 222 isthe fixed pattern on Rigid base 202 which serves as a reference tocompare changes in Pattern 220 due to pressure changes. The colour ofthe iris of the person is taken into account for selecting theappropriate patterns.

The above pattern is one of that printed by micro lithography, by one ofetching with laser and photo etching, and by one of embossing to givethe hologram pattern and diffraction grating and background pattern withits counter pattern.

FIG. 5 is the front view of the Mirror 302 which has a region withConcave surface 304. A comparison Chart 306 is provided to read of thelevel of intra Ocular Pressure according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of the Magnifier arrangement which comprises of anObjective Lens 402, a pair a mirrors 404 positioned a right angles, ascrew type groove 406 to move the eyepiece 408 for focusing purpose. TheIOP monitoring device in the eye 412 is observed by eye 410. Themagnifier is reversed to observe the IOP monitoring devise in eye 410 byeye 412, according to one embodiment. Enhancement to this magnifier canbe made to monitor other conditions of the eye if necessary.

FIG. 7 is a schematic of the Magnifier arrangement which comprises of anObjective Lens 502, a pair a right angled prisms 504, a screw typegroove 506 to move the eye piece 508 for focusing purpose. The IOPmonitoring device in the eye 512 is observed by eye 510. The magnifieris reversed to observe the IOP monitoring devise in eye 510 by eye 512,according to one embodiment. Enhancement to this magnifier can be madeto monitor other conditions of the eye if necessary.

In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations,processes, and methods disclosed herein may be performed in any order(e.g., including using means for achieving the various operations).Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A device to monitor Intra Ocular Pressure by the person himself bylooking at changes in patterns and colour of the device, in the mirrorand through magnifying attachment, the device comprising of a rigid basewith background pattern on which is attached an elastomer with counterpattern and pattern of hologram and diffraction grating of differentspacing to give colour changes. A layer of biocompatible polymerencloses the whole structure. The devise helps Ophthalmologists tomonitor efficacy and dosage of drugs given to control Intra OcularPressure.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1: Wherein the devise issurgically inserted between the Cornea and Iris under aseptic conditionthrough a small incision.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 1: Whereinpattern is one of Diffraction grating which changes in colour due tointerference effect of light due to spacing of pattern changing onincreasing pressure. The pattern which is one of a hologram giveschanges in colour on change in pattern due to change in pressure. Thebackground pattern on rigid base remains constant and serves to indicatechanges in the pattern on the elastomer by comparison onsuperimposition.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 1: wherein thespacing of lines in the diffraction grating is different in differentAreas so that the area of colour change indicates the level of pressurechange. Where the spacing is more change of colour is seen first whilearea where the spacing between lines is less change of colour occurs ata much higher pressure, in one embodiment. The diffraction grating andHologram is selected taking into account the Iris colour of the person.A pattern giving unique identification of a person is added in one area.5. The device as claimed in claim 1: Wherein the pattern is one of thatprinted by micro lithography, by one of etching with laser of vapourdepositions by sputtering and photo etching, and by one of embossing togive the hologram pattern and diffraction grating and background patternwith its counter pattern.
 6. The device as claimed in claim 1: Wherein aGel is present between the Rigid base and the elastomer to enhance thesensitivity to pressure.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 1: whereinthe Mirror has a portion with concave surface to magnify the image ofthe eye. A magnifier consisting of an objective convex lens assembly anda pair of mirrors in one embodiment and a pair of right angled prismsanother embodiment and an eyepiece convex lens assembly with focusingscrew is provided to enlarge the image of the devise for closermonitoring of changes in pattern. This magnifier is used to monitorother conditions of the eye.
 8. The device as claimed in claim 1:Wherein the magnetic strip is added to the rigid base to enable shiftingand adjust the placement of the device using, a magnetic field. Thishelps in getting the proper viewing position. In case of Iris basedBiometrics the devise position is changes to get full signature of Iriswhen needed.
 9. The device as claimed in claim 1: Wherein aBiocompatible polymer layer surrounds the entire devise to enhancesafety. This layer has folds at corner to give flexibility to allowstretching of Elastomer layer.
 10. The device as claimed in claim 1:Wherein a comparison Chart with pattern change corresponding todifferent levels of pressure change is printed on the Mirror and alsogiven as a separate chart.